The worst of times…?

“It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness”, wrote Charles Dickens some 150 years ago. It might also seem to serve as a summary of the credit-crunched past two years. As the legal profession prepared to bid a taxing 2009 farewell, Managing Partner asked law firm leaders for their reflections on a year in recession.

Feature
Out of this world?
The past year has seen unprecedented turbulence for the legal profession, but is perhaps simply a portent of what is to come.

Editor's letter
AS THAT familiar festive feeling comes around once again, many business marketing teams may be wrestling with a classic communications roast chestnut.

Feature
The Legal Services Act: growing concern?
The potential impact of the Legal Services Act on the typical ‘high street’ solicitor model has been widely debated, with predictions many may pass away. But what competitive threat does a more diverse legal market pose for the UK’s larger law firms?

Feature
Cashing up
Having the firmest grip possible on the key processes in a firm’s revenue cycle has become an even greater priority in the cash-strapped course of 2009.

News
LSB outlines ‘outcomes-based approach to ABS
THE LEGAL Services Board (LSB) has published new proposals for the licensing of the first alternative business structures (ABSs) as soon as mid-2011 under the Legal Services Act 2007.

News
Lovells and Hogan & Hartson announce May merger
INTERNATIONAL LAW firms Hogan & Hartson and Lovells are to merge, effective 1 May 2010, the pair have announced.

News
Veale Wasbrough merges with Vizards Tweedie
BRISTOL LAW firm Veale Wasbrough has merged with London-based Vizards Tweedie, creating a firm with 46 partners and a combined turnover of some £22m.

News
Winston & Strawn opens two China offices
WINSTON & STRAWN has won approval from the Chinese government to open two new offices in China.

Special
Profile: Mark Landon
Formerly head of employment law at Royal Mail, London managing partner Mark Landon brings a broad client perspective to the management team at Weightmans as it focuses on further national expansion.

Feature
The recovery position
In the first half of a two-part article, three leaders in professional development consider some of the key management decisions law firms should be taking as economies around the world slowly emerge from a damaging recession.

Feature
Reaching hire
While many businesses may have been tempted to cut back on recruitment through the downturn, some have seen opportunities to strengthen their offerings by taking on new senior talent. In 2009 regional UK law firm SAS Daniels LLP boosted fee-earner numbers by ten per cent with its first ever team lateral hires.

Feature
Investigating within the law
Economic downturns often bring more fraud to light and drive demand to uncover such activity. Unethical or disproportionate investigation practices can compound the problem, however; sometimes even tarnishing a company’s reputation more than the potential fraud itself.

News
CC senior partner to chair new City lobby group
CLIFFORD CHANCE senior partner, Stuart Popham, has been appointed the chair of a new lobbying body designed to continue promoting London as a key financial centre following the global recession.

News
Dundas & Wilson agrees training deal with College of Law
TOP-50 UK law firm Dundas & Wilson (D&W) has agreed to send all its England and Wales trainees to courses run by the College of Law beginning in September 2010.

News
Survey: UK divorce system failing children
OVER TWO-THIRDS (68 per cent) of parents in the UK admit to indiscriminately using their children as ‘bargaining tools’ in divorce proceedings, a law firm's research has found.

News
Regulator approves barristers becoming LDPs
THE BAR Standards Board (BSB) has announced that barristers should not be made to requalify as solicitors in order to join forces with them in the legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) permitted under the Legal Services Act 2007.